Angle entry rotary valve

ABSTRACT

Straight line flow rotary valves with the valve member flow passage (21) turned away from the pipeline flow axis (22), to dispose the valve internals to an access port (50) located downstream on the same flow axis of the valve member (11). Another embodiment is used in place of pipe elbows where the rotary valve internals are accessed through a port (50) on the same flow axis (22) as the upstream pipe. In both valve body embodiments, the flow is turned again, downstream of the valve member (11), to communicate with the connecting downstream piping which, in the first embodiment is along the same axis as the upstream pipe (22), and in the second embodiment, is on a different axis (39), and, is generally 45 or 90 degrees turned from the upstream pipe. 
     In both embodiments the flow turns in a component (12) installed, through the body access port (50). In all embodiments the turning component also services as the pressure boundary access cover over the body opening (50). In a variety of embodiments the turning component (12) additionally services as the valve seat (13), and as a behind the seat seal (16). 
     Sealing member embodiments include floating and trunnion-mounted ball and partial ball valves, and butterfly valves. The preferred embodiment of butterfly valve has a removable resilient seal material (71) such as PTFE or a graphite-based laminate, retained to the valve disc member (11) to facilitate complete repair of all flow isolation surfaces without having to remove the disc member from the valve through the access port (50). 
     Method for removing and installing valve internals through the access port is disclosed.

This is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 08/384,577 filed Feb. 6, 1995 by the Applicant, now U.S. Pat.No. 5,562,116, issued Oct. 8, 1996.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to valves, specifically to industrial andcommercial ball and butterfly valves used to isolate and control flow inequipment and piping.

BACKGROUND ART

In industrial plants, valves are repaired frequently. Valves which arewelded into the pipe are usually repaired in place due to the expenserelated to removal and reinstallation. Linear acting valves of the gateand globe style have a bonnet, which when removed, gives access to theinternal parts of the valve. Valves which have flanged or clamped pipeconnections can be either repaired in place or removed to a shop forrepair. Shop repair is preferred, when feasible, due to the ability toshop test valves after the seat and sealing members have been restored.Also, a shop is a more ideal working environment compared to an insitujob and repair quality is generally better.

A problem arises with split body or side entry ball and butterfly(rotary) valves when repairs are necessary and the valves are welded inline, or flanged (or clamped) but not feasible to remove due to spacerestrictions, or a limited available repair time. Valves of this type donot have a bonnet which can be removed to access the valve internals.

If a split body valve is welded into the line, the line must be cut sothat the body bolts can be removed to access the internal valve member.Cutting a pipeline is very costly. After lines greater than 21/2" arecut the pipe ends and the valve ends have to be machined to achieve thebeveled butt weld end dimension in accordance with American NationalStandard Institute B16.25. Then after the valve has been repaired itmust be rewelded back into the flowline. Finally, depending on thenature of the valve installation, non-destructive testing, ranging fromdye checking to full penetration x-ray is done. Removal andreinstallation costs often are the most expensive step in the repair ofa welded in split body or end entry valve.

Some manufacturers of split body valves will suggest removing the bodybolts and pulling the valve apart. The problems with this method aremany. The piping to which the valve is attached, cannot be sprung apartwithout placing undesirable stresses in the piping. These stresses canbecome the root cause of future pipe rupture, which can be catastrophicin high pressure or hazardous medium situations. Furthermore, even afterusing the heavy duty slings and come-alongs to spread the valve apart,there is usually not enough space between the two sections of the splitbody to properly remove and reinstall the internals, and, misalignedtrim (internals) is often the result. Lastly, but not least, this methodcan also be very dangerous as there is a risk of the sprung pipe lettinggo or moving. If this were to happen while repair personnel were workingin the valve, that part of the mechanic's body (head, hands, arms, etc.)which is between the two valve body sections could be crushed.

Two of the three primary types of industrial service rotary valves haveinline repairable (bonneted) designs. They are top entry (sphericalplug) ball valves and plug (tapered and straight cylinder) valves. Theother rotary valve widely used in the industrial/commercial environmentis the butterfly valve. Butterfly valves are made in a side entrydesign, and therefore are not inline repairable. To repair a butterflyvalve at least one valve pipe connection must be opened. It suffers fromthe same problems that a split body or side entry ball valve does whenit comes to insitu repair. Tapered plug valves, due to their requirementto have linear seating force (gravity and/or often some mechanicalassist) are generally always top or bottom entry. While the technologydescribed in this patent is presently indicative of that found in thespherical, near spherical or partially spherical plug (ball) and thebutterfly valve, it is not intended to exclude its application to plugvalve art.

Several types of top entry, inline repairable ball valves have beenproposed--for example, in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,998,223 to Baxter (1961),4,562,860 to Walter, Costa, and Eminger (1986), 4,637,421 to Stunkard(1986), 4,718,444 to Boelte (1988), 3,154,094 and 3,179,121 toBredtschneider et al. (1961). All of these patents were issued forresilient seated valves with a service limitation of about 450 degreesFahrenheit. Resilient seats, often made of Teflon brand PTFE (polymer) atrademark of E.I. duPont de Nemours & Company, Wilmington, Del., USA,can be forced into a confined ball and seat ring(s) cavity from the topdown as is done in a top entry ball valve. It is important to note thatthis forcing of the valve trim often results in damaged balls and softseat rings rendering the valve useless as a positive isolation device.Changing the soft seats out of a top entry ball valve is likened tochanging a bicycle tire. There is a lot of prying and pinching and oftenthe resilient seat material, like the tire inner tube, gets punctured.The difference between the tire and the valve seals is that a tire canbe patched while the valve seals, once damaged by a screwdriver or anyother prying instrument, are scrap. For this reason, the easy assemblyof the split and side entry body is widely used. A means by whichresilient seats could be installed, while the valve is completelyconnected to the pipe, and at the same time minimizing the risk ofdamaging them in the process, would advance the art.

The problems found with installing valve components in a top entry softseated valve are compounded in a metal seated valve, as there is muchless compressibility in the metal internals as they are forced into thevalve, compared to the soft, low friction surface of resilient seatmaterial. Ironically, it is with metal seated valves that some type ofvalve internal access is vital to the long term user acceptance asvalves of this type are, due to severe service conditions, more inclinedto be welded in place, especially in power plant environments.

Many high temperature ball valves are of the floating ball design. Withthis design the ball is suspended between a belleville spring loadedupstream guide and the downstream valve seat. Both the upstream guideand the valve seat are radiused to mate with the spherical shape of theball. The spring is essential to the accommodation of thermally inducedmovement of the valve components which occurs in high temperaturesservices. The spring loads are best applied by a compression of theseat/ball/upstream guide and belleville spring along the flow axis ofthe valve. Use of the split body or side entry enables a loading forceto be applied against the guide spring as torque is being applied to thefasteners that join the valve body parts together.

(a) U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,976 to Beasley (1994) discloses a top entryfloating ball design valve. Using a smooth planar wall surface and aspecial square belleville, this design is an attempt to solve theproblem of assembling a valve with a spring loaded guides from the topdown. With this design the downward force (perpendicular to the flowlineaxis) needed to urge the square spring into the narrow gap between thebody wall and the upstream ball guide can compromise alignment bycocking the guide and ball components. Also, this design may work at thefirst factory assembly, however, once a valve has been in service thesmoother planar wall will no longer be smooth and will requirerestoration to render it useful each time the valve is repaired. Fieldmachining the planar wall will be very difficult because special toolingmay be required to true up the bottom corners of the square area.

(b) Furthermore, planar wall restoration will result in the need forthicker (oversized) belleville spring to make up for the material lostto a grinding and/or machining operation. This problem becomesespecially apparent when the ball and seat required a substantialsurface repair in way of machining, grinding and lapping, furtherreducing the compression value of the guide spring. It then becomes amaintenance problem having to order a special spring when the valve isrepaired, especially since the size of the spring may not be known untilthe smoothing out of the planar wall (and member seat) is finished. Bythis time it may be too late to purchase a specialized spring due tofactory lead times. Reusing the old belleville with a diminishedcritical ball loading dimension can result in valve seat failure, and, alock-up condition wherein the ball drops and becomes seized andinoperable.

(c) Lastly, in regards to the Beasley design, in an attempt to make theinsertion of the square belleville easier its strength can becompromised due to size reduction. This can result in premature springfailure and the same problems as with undersized springs as indicatedabove.

Now that ball valves are being used as flow control valves in highpressure and temperature service it is important to have a valve bodydesign that permits nondestructive access to the internal members.Control valves, especially those involved with severe pressure breakdownin the order of thousands of pounds per square inch, experienceaccelerated wear. Therefore inspection and repair are done frequently.

(d) U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,986 to Hunt (1994) discloses a split body(floating) ball valve which due to its high temperature and pressurecapability, is very likely to be welded into the pipeline. Being a splitbody valve presents a major drawback to this design since every time thevalve is in need of inspection and repair the line must be cut andrewelded. Being able to effectively spring load the guide and yet haveeasy access to the inner workings of this valve would be a significantimprovement of this design.

(e) With respect to non-rotary valve prior art, there are hundreds ofpatents which disclose various designs of gate and globe valves for usein industrial plant services. In high pressure and temperatureapplications, such as those existing in power plants, the gate and globevalve seats are permanently attached to the valve body. Therefore, seatgrinding, machining and very often, minor and major weld repairs, musttake place at the valve location, as most power plant feed water andsteam valves are welded in the line. Not being able to remove the valveto a shop means that specialized portable tools must be brought to thesite. This tooling, besides being expensive to make, purchase, ordifficult to schedule when rented (with or without anengineer/technician), is often very difficult to setup, and, does notusually bring the same surface finish results as does a machine shapewith heavier, stationary lathes, boring mills, etc. Undesirable machinetool surface chattering is a field problem encountered when usinglighter weight portable machines to cut very hard metallic valve seats.

(f) Furthermore, there are many industrial repair situations where it isunsafe to expose workers to the area immediately surrounding a valve.Nuclear plant valves are a good example of this. When extensive valveseat repairs are necessary it is not unusual to use up severaltechnicians' radiation exposure allowances. Hazardous chemicalenvironments are another example of this.

(g) Also, as is often the case with smaller (3 inch and under) highpressure (ANSI Class 1500, 2500 and 4500) gate and globe valves, oncethe valve seat is damaged and repaired to a point where the seatingmaterial is gone, the valve, which is in otherwise good condition is cutout of the line and discarded.

(h) Flanged end joints are often the preferred design for valves where,due to a split body, end entry (rotary valves) or low pressure service(gate and globe valves) the valves are removed from the pipe formaintenance. Collectively, flanged end valves present a seriousenvironmental problem due to the known leak rate of this connectionmethod. The Clean Air Act is guiding industrial plants to ways to reduceharmful fugitive emissions.

(i) In addition to concerns about fugitive emissions and worker safetyin the chemical industry, many industrial plants would prefer to weldvalves in line, rather than flange them, if there was a way to easilyperform repairs without having to remove complete valves from the line.Removal and reinstallation cost of flanged valves is a very costly partof the repair process.

The primary purpose of the valve of the present invention is to permitfield disassembly and assembly without having to cut, spring or unbolt arotary valve from the line to which it is connected. The furtheradvantage is that the environmental leakage and fire hazard that occursat valve-to-pipe joints can be eliminated by making a valve integralwith the pipe, mainly by way of welding. Rotary valves are bestassembled by stacking the internal parts along the axis of flow. Toachieve this optimum assembly once the valve is installed requires theremoval of the valve or the use of a flowpath that is turned enough awayfrom the direction of flow at the valve inlet so as to dispose a flowaxis to an opening which will facilitate flow axis parts installation.This turning of a rotary valve's flowpath (at the expense of flowcapacity) to simplify field repair is the essence of the AERo valve.

As explained previously, flow turns within an AERo valve can take placein the body inlet and outlet flow chambers and in a removable componentcalled the DVC (downstream valve component). Embodiments are shownherein in which the flow is turned within the valve member rather thanthe DVC. Embodiments described hereinafter as "flow turning embodiments"comprise a combination of the DVC and valve member functions into aunitary member.

In addition, an embodiment called the "compression plate retainer", willalso be described.

OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES

The primary object of this invention is to improve upon the superiorassembly method and very tight shut-off capabilities of split body andside entry rotary valves by making them field repairable without havingto open pipe connections. Accordingly, there are several related objectsand advantages of present invention as follows:

(a) to provide a valve design that now can be welded into the pipelineand becomes an integral part of the line, as opposed to flanged orclamped, thereby eliminating the possibility of flange seal failure.This will greatly increase industrial plant safety, (especially wheredangerous medium is flowing in the line) save maintenance dollars, and,reduce the amount of environmentally harmful fugitive emissions, whichoccur due to bolted flange leaks.

(b) to provide a welded inline high pressure ball valve and, butterflyvalves, with not only a readily removable disc or ball closing member,but one, whereby the valve seat is actually removed before the closingmember.

(c) to provide unprecedented repair capability to the high pressure ballvalve and butterfly valves whereby, due to the removable seats, seatrestoration procedures (which generally are the most time consuming partof a valve repair) like rough machining, welding, postweld heattreatment, post weld machining, grinding and lapping can all take placein a shop rather than in the plant or field. Being able to perform theselabor intensive procedures in a shop will promote general safety in thework place, better repair quality, and faster repair turnaround withoutthe need for specialized portable machine tools.

(d) to provide the inline removable seats in the ball and butterflyvalves as a means to reduce the amount of time spent in:

1.) a radioactive atmosphere such as can occur in nuclear plants

2.) areas of an industrial plant where hazardous or lethal chemicals arepart of the process.

3.) very hot or very cold field repair locations.

This object is especially important since the amount of exposure orpotential exposure increases dramatically when a valve used in adangerous service is opened for repair. Having to perform extensive seatwork, in place, in these environments is a very demanding andundesirable task.

(e) to provide an inline repairable valve which does not require thelifting or disturbance of the valve actuation, whether it is of themanual, pneumatic, electric, or hydraulic type. This benefit willfacilitate a quicker repair without the risk of damaging the actuationor actuation accessories such as gages, positioners, limit switches,regulators, filters, solenoids, etc., during removal and reinstallationhandling.

(f) to provide a location for the easy installation and removal of one,or a set of stacked of multiple orifices in the flow passageway of anyof the rotary type valves covered in this invention. Such orifice(s)will provide noise reduction, cavitation reduction and flow control.

(g) to provide a welded inline floating ball and trunnion-mounted ballvalve that can easily be disassembled and reassembled using the samemethod of compressing the spring-loaded guide or the upstream seat,respectively, as is presently utilized. This is accomplished by turningdown on the bolts holding the access port component, located on thedownstream side of the valve sealing member, rather than attempt toforce close tolerance sealing members in from the top of the valve,risking damage to parts and immediate failure of the valve in operation.

(h) to provide another form of angle entry rotary valve that can beinstalled in place of a pipe elbow. This will, in addition to all theobjects and advantages mentioned above, provide for less newconstruction welding (since the valve and elbow location are the sameonly two pipe welds are required instead of four) more compact pipedesign (desirable in high solids flow where minimal pipe flow resistanceis required), an elbow inspection and line access (clean-out) port, and,last, but not least, an elbow wear element that can be repaired orreplaced.

(i) to provide a means by which the soft (resilient) seals of a softseated floating ball valve can be removed with ease and reinstalledwithout risking the seal damage that often occurs when forcing softseats into a top entry type valve.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further properties of the invention will be brought out in thedescription which now follows, with particular embodiments of theinvention being shown in the accompanying drawings which are given byway of example without any limitations being implied and in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional partially exploded view of the maincomponents of angle entry rotary valve (hereinafter referred to as AERovalve), showing the body, valve member, seat, yoke, operator, stuffingbox, stem and a component singular to the AERo valve . . . thedownstream valve component (hereinafter referred to as the DVC). TheDVC, its lower and upper seals, and nuts are shown in the explodedportion of the Figure;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view showing FIG. 1 assembled;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the bolted flange type DVC;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view from the third flow axis of the boltedflange type DVC;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of a separate threaded-in seat with apressure sealed DVC;

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of the "straight pipeline body" with abutterfly valve member;

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of a double-seated, trunnion-mountedball valve with a thread-in DVC and a metal-to-metal lower DVC sealrather than a resilient sealing material;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of a double-seated floating ballsimilar to FIG. 1 and 2, with sealing on both sides of the ball;

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view of the "turned pipeline body" AERovalve with a butterfly member;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the addition of flowcontrol elements in the downstream flow port of a upstream-seated,trunnion-mounted ball type embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a cross sectional view of the main components of the firstpreferred embodiment of the straight pipe AERo valve in the closedposition. This figure also shows the compression plate means forretainment.

FIG. 12 is a cross sectional view of the main components of the firstpreferred embodiment of the straight pipe AERo valve in the openposition.

FIG. 13 is a cross sectional view of the main components of the firstpreferred embodiment of the turning pipe AERo valve in the open positionwith primary flow coming from under the valve.

FIG. 14 is a cross sectional view of the main components of the firstpreferred embodiment of the turning pipe AERo valve in the open positionwith primary flow coming from the side of the valve.

FIG. 15 is an elevational view of the second preferred embodiment of thestraight pipe AERo valve which, due to the valve member configurationhas its actuator and access port centered on on different verticalplanes.

FIG. 16 is a top cross sectional view of the second preferred embodimentof the straight pipe AERo valve embodiment which has its actuator andaccess port centered on different planes.

FIG. 17 is an elevational cross section view of the second preferredembodiment of the straight pipe AERo valve embodiment which has itsactuator and access port on different planes.

FIG. 18 is a top view of the valve body area that houses the compressionplate means.

FIG. 19 is an end elevational view of the AERo valve with thecompression plate means.

    ______________________________________                                        Reference Numerals in Drawings                                                ______________________________________                                         10   body                                                                    11    valve member                                                            12    downstream valve component (DVC)                                        13    downstream seat                                                         13a   threaded-in seat                                                        13b   threaded in seat seal                                                   13c   seat in double seated valve                                             14    upstream seat guide                                                     15    seat guide spring                                                       16    lower DVC seal                                                          16a   metal-to-metal DVC seal area                                            17    lower stem shaft                                                        17a   lower stem shaft                                                        17b   upper stem shaft                                                        17c   one piece stem shaft                                                    18    upper DVC seal                                                          19    body bolts                                                              20    first cylindrical passageway                                            21    second cylindrical passageway                                           22    first (pipeline) axis                                                   23    first cylindrical body chamber                                          24    second cylindrical body chamber                                         25    fifth cylindrical passageway                                            26    sixth cylindrical passageway                                            27    seventh cylindrical passageway                                          28    second (main body) axis                                                 29    shaft coupling                                                          30    fourth (DVC) axis                                                       31    fifty (outlet) axis                                                     32    yoke                                                                    33    valve operator                                                          34    third (closure element) axis                                            35    stem packing gland                                                      36    packing gland bolts                                                     37    stuffing box                                                            38    third flow passageway in the pipe turning pipe body                     39    second axis in the turning body                                         40    lower DVC seal area in body ID                                          41    bottom of lower DVC seal in valve body inside diameter                  42    lower DVC ID seal area                                                  43    top of lower DVC seal area                                              44    lower DVC guide and gland                                               45    recessing OD of DVC                                                     46    flanged DVC boltholes                                                   47    body outlet passageway weld                                             48    flanged DVC upper seal area                                             49    DVC passageway outlet hole                                              50    valve internal access port                                              51    DVC flange                                                              52    body seal area for upper DVC                                            53    body chamber planar wall(s)                                             54    DVC lifting boltholes (threaded)                                        55    trunnion shaft                                                          56    trunnion shaft cover (bolted)                                           57    pressure seal ring                                                      58    pressure seal spacer ring                                               59    segmented retainer ring                                                 60    pressure seal draw-up plate                                             61    DVC lifting holes (threaded) for pressure sealed & threaded             62    body reinforcing bar                                                    63    spanner wrench holes                                                    64    threaded-in DVC retainer                                                65    threaded-in DVC retainer weld                                           66    pressure breakdown element                                              67    segment ring body groove                                                68    threaded DVC retainer lower                                             69    upstream seated valve seat holder circumference area                    69a   seat for 69 above                                                       69b   seat holder OD seal for above                                           70    stem-to-ball slot location                                              71    butterfly member seal                                                   71a   butterfly member seal retainer (bolted)                                 71b   butterfly member seal retainer bolts                                    72    flow turning valve member                                               73    bonnet                                                                  74    first turning member flow passageway                                    75    second turning member flow passageway                                   76    guide                                                                   77    compression plate                                                       78    compression plate threaded holes                                        79    compression screw                                                       80    compression screw heads or nuts                                         81    body slot                                                               82    compression shoulder                                                    83    bonnet seal                                                             84    bonnet guide groove                                                     85    body seal groove                                                        86    body chamber                                                            87    first fluid passageway                                                  88    second fluid passageway                                                 89    compression stop shoulder                                               ______________________________________                                    

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION AND BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THEINVENTION

The angle entry rotary (AERo) valve has three primary embodimentcategories, each having to do with a variation of design shaped aroundthe concept of turning the fluid flow path to accommodateeasy-in-the-pipeline (inline) accessibility to the closure member of thevalve.

The first embodiment category as shown in FIGS. 1-2, and 5-10 show themain body types relative to the pipeline flow requirements, i.e., is thevalve for a straight or turning pipe. These embodiments are called the"valve body embodiments". The second category of embodiments relate tothe valve flow control or flow isolation members, i.e., whether therotating sealing member is a floating ball, trunnion-mounted full orpartial ball, a butterfly, a soft seated floating ball or a flow controlvalve. These embodiments, hereinafter referred to as the "valve memberembodiments", are shown in FIGS. 1-2 and 5-10. The last group ofembodiments ar shown completely or partially in all Figures. This group,called the "downstream valve component (DVC) embodiments", relates tothe function of this major valve component and to the various means bywhich it is installed in the AERo valve body.

To more fully understand the overall nature of the angle entry rotaryvalve we will refer to FIG. 2. The remaining Figures illustrate thevarious embodiments which this patent application is intended toinclude.

FIG. 2 shows a typical floating ball type AERo valve in the "straightpipeline" valve body embodiment, whereby the generally cylindrical orconical flow passageway 20 along the first axis 22 turns approximately45 degrees to form a second flow passageway 21 along axis 28. Flow inpassageway 21 proceeds through the sealing member 11 and into the DVC 12where it is turned to communicate with the third cylindrical passageway26 whose axis 31 is approximately 90 degrees to the second axis 28. Thispassageway is then turned approximately 45 degrees to return flow to thefirst axis 22 through passageway 27. The angles of flow passagewayintersection in the straight pipeline body embodiment can vary greatly.FIG. 7 shows flow angles of approximately 25 degrees at the intersectionof passageways 20 and 21, 70 degrees at the intersection of passageways21 and 26 which occurs in the DVC passageway 25, and 45 degrees at theintersection of passageways 26 and 27.

Passageway turns at the intersection of each axis can be mitered, or, asshown in the preferred embodiment of FIGS. 7 and 10, rounded to acontour that would minimize any turbulent effect as media flows throughthe valve.

The second body embodiment, called the "turned pipeline body" is shownin FIG. 9 whereby the first generally cylindrical or conical flowpassageway 20 along the first axis 22 proceeds past the sealing member11 and into the downstream valve component 12 where it is turned 45 or90 degrees in passageway 25 to communicate with the second flowgenerally cylindrical or conical passageway 38 along axis 39 whichconnects, without any further turning, to the pipeline. This bodyembodiment would be used at a location that would otherwise be a 45 or90 degree pipe elbow.

The third, "special" valve body embodiment, is one in which the flowpassageway intersection angles and/or the number of flow passagewaysand/or the flow passageway lengths are altered to effect substantiallyincreased or decreased flow coefficients or to a valve into a fit intopredetermined open pipe dimension.

The valve shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 9 show the preferred body embodimentof a completely cast or forged body with sufficient wall thickness, tomeeting industry standards for pressure boundary and to accommodatejoint stress allowances. FIG. 7 shows a substantial increase of wallthickness at the point where flow passage way 25 and 26 converge as thisis a point of highest pipe loading stress concentration. The valvesshown in FIGS. 1, 2, 5, 8 and 10 are fabrications showing welded-on 47valve outlet passageways. This method of construction is another meansof construction, especially for odd sizes. To strengthen the valve bodywhen the outlet pipe is welded on, a webbing, usually consisting of thesame material as the valve body, connecting the outside body ofpassageway 26 and 21 can be added as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 5.Lastly, with regard to body configuration, the welded-on outlet pipe canbe eliminated altogether when the piping to which a valve is beinginstalled can connect directly to the main body adjacent to thedischarge side of the DVC. This can be done with either 45 degree elbowfor valves which have the same inlet and outlet centerline, or bystraight pipe for valves of the turned pipe design as shown in FIG. 9.

Valves covered in this document will be subject to standards of variousorganized bodies duly recognized as the industry's manufacturingguidelines. The preferred embodiment for connecting the AERo valve tothe pipe will be by means of a socket weld or butt weld in accordancewith American National Standards Institute (ANSI) B16.25. Valves may,however be of the flanged, ring type joint, wafer body, lugged, orclamped but style end connections or any workable combination of jointthereof. Valve body wall thicknesses will conform to ANSI B16.34 1988with ratings in the 150, 300, 600, 800, 900, 1500, 2500 and 4500 classesand be built to intermediate, limited, and special class ratings in allpipe sizes as allowed. Materials of body construction will be percustomary requirements for given service conditions. Frequently usedmaterial swill be low alloy carbon steel, stainless steel and nickel andnickel alloy materials.

A wide variety of yoke designs and valve operators are used and wideknown in the art. Operators including lever 33, handwheel, worm gear inFIG. 7, spur and bevel hear, motor, air and hydraulic units suitablyrated for the service conditions and operating torque requirements. EachFIG., except FIGS. 3 and 4, show the typical valve stem shaft (17 and 32in FIG. 2) and stuffing box (37 in FIG. 2) arrangement to be utilized.Materials of construction will again vary according to the requirementsof service conditions. Typically, a graphite and/or carbon stem packingwill be installed and compressed in the stuffing box for valves exposedto flow mediums in excess of 450 degrees Fahrenheit while PTFE or otherappropriate material will be used in lower temperature and cryogenicservice conditions.

Reference has been made to the DVC previously to describe the flow pathof the AERo valve. The embodiments of the DVCs vary depending on whetherthe valve access 50, at the end of axis 28 furthest from the flow lineaxis 22, is a bolted down flange style as shown in FIGS. 1-4, 6, 8 and10, threaded as shown in FIG. 7, or a pressure seal style shown in FIG.5.

The bolted flange DVC embodiment, detailed in FIGS. 3 and 4, combinesfour key features into one component. Hence the need for a new part name"DVC" which more appropriately describes the multiple functions thispart performs in the AERo valve. Three of the DVC features are found inalmost every valve known, i.e., the seat, the seat to body seal and thecover, or bonnet. The fourth feature, often a part of general isolationand control valve body flow passageways, but not a part of amultifunctional internal component, but is integral to the DVC, is aflow turning passageway. This passageway 25, in all body and valvemember embodiments, communicates with the flow passageways on axis 21and 26 to effect a continuous flow from the axis created for valvemaintenance 28 to the axis of the pipe flow line 31. The passageway canbe one of intersecting cylindrical chambers (mitered) as shown in FIGS.1, 2, and 8 or, can be a contoured arched chamber of a generallycylindrical shape as shown in FIGS. 3, 5, 6, 7, and 9.

The preferred threaded and pressure sealed DVC embodiments differ fromthe flanged embodiment in that the seat is separated from the main DVCin the pressure seal style, and, the threaded style utilizes a threadedretainer to fix the DVC in to the valve. A separate seat is required inthe pressure seal style due to the fact that, during assembly, theupward pull of the DVC would relax the force required to position theDVC seat to sealably mate with the valve member. A threaded retainer 64(plug or plate) is preferred in the threaded-in DVC due to the fact thatthis design makes the DVC manufacturing easier. With this design it iseasier to make sure that the DVC flow outlet hole 49 and the contiguousflow passageway 26 are concentric after the DVC is completely threadedinto the body.

The pressure sealed DVC can be clamped (Greylock style) or, as shown inthe preferred embodiment in FIG. 5, bolted through a DVC draw-up ring60. The pressure seal configuration, like the flanged, is widely knownin the art. By drawing the DVC 12 and its seal ring 57 against a spacerring 58 and segmented ring 59, the later of which are inserted into afull circumferential groove 67 in the inside diameter of the valve body,the AERo valve access port is sealed. When a pressure seal arrangementis used for the downstream valve component it is preferred that aseparate seat ring 13a is bolted (with a gasket 13b), welded, or, asshown in its preferred embodiment in FIG. 5, is threaded and gasketedinto the inside diameter of the valve body 10 to communicate with therotatably disposed closure member 11 and to compress the gasket and toprevent leakage from finding a path between the seat ring 13b and thevalve body 10. The pressure sealed downstream valve component can beused with all of the various body and valve member embodiments describedherein.

The threaded-in DVC is the same as the bolted DVC except for the meansby which it seals off the access port 50. The upper DVC seal body area52 is deeper, and, therefore lower into the valve body as shown in FIG.7. It is also threaded to accommodate the retainer 64 compressionfunction. The seal 18, in the preferred embodiment, is a non-metallicmaterial suitable for the service desired. In the preferred embodiment asnap-type retaining ring is fitted into a circumferential internal bodygroove above the retainer 64 to lock the retainer in its designposition. Another locking embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, is to place aspot weld 65 joining the retainer to the body. The bottom of theretainer is in the preferred embodiment flat or equipped with a thinpush plate, generally made of the same material and in the same diameteras the threaded retaining plug (plate), to provide straight axiscompression of the upper DVC seal 18. The retaining ring's lowercircumference 68 protrudes slightly below the seal shoulder 52 in veryclose diametrical clearance so as to prevent the seal material fromextruding into the valve body, and, thereby diminishing theeffectiveness of the seal. The retaining ring 64 is turned into the AERovalve body 10 (by use of the spanner wrench holes 63) a prescribeddistance as measured from the top of the valve body at the access port50. This distance will assure that the upper and lower DVC seals aresealably compressed and that the valve seat is positioned to perform thesealing function with whatever member embodiment is used.

For easy removal of the DVC in valves with the threaded retainer a hole61 is drilled and tapped into the top center of the DVC, wherein athreaded eyebolt can be installed and a sling can be attached to thebolt at the time of DVC removal to enable the DVC to pull from the valvebody. Naturally, the eyebolt and sling would be used for reassembly.Large valves may require more than one eyebolt hole.

The angle of flow passageway turn in the DVC can vary depending on theoverall flow requirements and end to end length of the valve. The insideof the DVC passageway 25 can be one of gradually reducing or expandingdiameters, or one of dramatic diameter change(s). The later may be usedfor very severe service conditions where it may be prudent to take alarge pressure drop at the outlet of the DVC 49, where the diameterwould be substantially reduced, rather than across the valve seat andmember. This would reduce the damaging effects to the shutoff sealingsurfaces on the seat and member when high velocity erosive flow occurs,especially when a valve is operating within twenty-five percent of theclosed position for extended time periods.

The material used in the DVC is generally the same as the valve bodymaterial with the exception of the seat surface. This area will containeither a soft inserted material such as PTFE or a hard material such asa weld overlay or a sprayed metal hardcoating. For very severe serviceconditions where highly erosive forces are known to exist, a weld orthermal spray hardcoating can be applied to the flow passageway 25.

The word "downstream" in DVC refers to the side of the valve which isexposed to medium flow after it passes through the first 20 and second21 passageway and the valve closure member 11. The term "downstream" isused to indicate the direction of flow when the valve is primarilyintended to flow in one direction only (unidirectional). However, theterm will also be used to describe the component even if flow isintended to be in both pipeline directions (bidirectional). Valves shownin all Figures are bidirectional with the exception of FIGS. 1, 2 and 5which, as shown, are unidirectional, but, can be configured to be in theoutside diameter of the upstream seat guide 14 and providing seatingshoulders in the valve body where the guide ring 14 communicates withthe valve body.

Referring to FIG. 1 the inside of the valve body is comprised of twocylindrical chambers 50 and 46, and a third chamber 52 which houses theupper DVC seal 18. The third chamber can be angled or radiused to housea metal seal ring 18 as shown in FIGS. 1-3, 6, 8-10. FIG. 5 shows aconventional pressure seal design. Additionally, chamber 52 can be flatto accommodate a gasket, or lengthened and threaded to accommodate athreaded and gasketed DVC.

Referring to FIG. 2, the first chamber 50 disposes the closure member(ball) 11, upstream seat guide (a ring with a radius on the surfacewhich communicates with the ball member to assure true alignment of theball) 14 and the closure member guide (belleville) conical loan spring15. The second body chamber 24 houses the downstream valve component andits upper 18 and lower seal 16. The shoulder 41 is the demarcationbetween the two body chambers.

The DVC in FIGS. 3 and 4 is a cylindrical component of varying outsidediameters to accommodate the access port cover (integral flange) 51, theturning passageway 45, the lower guide and gland 44 and the lower sealinside diameter retaining surface 42. The seat which communicates withthe closure member is radiused to mate with ball surface as shown invarious ball valve Figures or in the case of a butterfly closure member,it can be of a radius or taper angle. Load on the seat is determined bythe overall protrusion of the DVC through the second body chamber 24 andinto the first body chamber 50 after being secured to the valve body.

In the preferred DVC embodiment, the lower seal ID retaining surface 42accommodates a die formed graphite or polymer-based ring 16 (materialwill depend on operating temperature and other conditions) with a sealheight of one to 5 times the seal cross sectional dimension. The sealscross section is determined by the following formula: ##EQU1##

Anti-extrusion rings, generally made of braided carbon or PTFE etc., ora compressed mesh of any of numerous woven metals compatible with theservice conditions, can be placed at the top, or, at the top and bottomof the lower DVC seal to further extend the seal life. Further, insteadof the lower DVC seal ring being one center ring with separateanti-extrusion ring, the anti-extrusion rings can be die formed into thecenter ring so that the seal is one piece. The center ring can also be astack of rings as opposed to one monolithic ring. This stuffing box-likeseal design allows for substantial seal compression to assure positivelong term sealing over the smallest diameter possible, thereby reducingthe need for expanding the body diameter to accommodate a spiral woundtype gasket which requires a wider sealing surface on a planeperpendicular to the DVC loading axis 28. This stuffing box-like seal isalso more forgiving in this sealing application whereby one compressionsource 19 is required to simultaneously engage two separate seallocations, i.e., the "to atmosphere" upper DVC seal 18 and the "behindthe seat" lower DVC seal 16. The lower seal inside diameter retainingsurface 42 and the first valve body chamber 50 overlap and thediametrical clearances here and between the second body chamber 24 andthe lower guide and gland 44 fully retain the lower downstream valvecomponent seal.

Another embodiment of the DVC is to directly mate the lower DVC to thebody effecting a 360 degree continuous metal-to-metal sealing contact.Stainless steel or other suitable DVC material or hardface overlayswould be necessary to give these sealing surfaces integrity andlongevity. Assuming that some lapping of this lower DVC mating surfacewould be required over years of service, and that any such lapping willseal contact surfaces, the upper DVC seal 18 must be a graphite orresilient polymer, and not a metal ring, to accommodate the greatercompression dimension that will occur from lapping the lower seal.Assuring the dimensional relationship between the lower metal-to-metalseal and the DVC seat will have to be part of the routine maintenanceprocedure. The addition or removal of body or DVC material may berequired to reestablish all critical sealing and valve member-to seatdimensions.

Another embodiment of the DVC is used in upstream seated valves like theone shown in FIG. 10. Here the DVC does not perform the functions ofvalve seat, or behind-the-seat seal. Therefore, it has no seat or lowerDVC seal area.

The outside diameter of the DVC 45 between the lower guide and gland andthe cover is reduced to minimize binding which can otherwise occurduring the removal and reinstallation of this component. As in FIG. 7the outside surface of the DVC may be substantially reduced in mass byreducing wall thickness, contouring the surface to match the flowpassageway and adding rib supports as may be required for the DVCsstructural integrity.

The outlet hole 49 of the downstream valve component is generally of acircular or oval shape, but can be of a variety of shape configurationsif the service application requires altering a valves flow pattern.

Operation of the DVC

The DVC is a stationary component in an operating valve. In all AERovalves, the DVC turns the flow passageway that allows inline access tothe valve internals back toward the direction of the connectingdownstream pipe, and, it is the removable pressure boundary part thatpermits access to the inside of the valve. The sealing functions of theDVC can depend largely upon which type of member embodiment is used andwhether or not the DVC has a seat.

In the single and double seated floating ball valves shown in FIGS. 1,2, 5 and 8 and in the double seated trunnion-mounted ball valve shown inFIG. 7, the DVC 12 provides the compressive load necessary to suspendthe ball in the floating ball valve, and, to mate the valve member tothe seats in the floating ball and downstream seat of the trunnion ballvalve. In the pressure seal embodiment shown in FIG. 5 a separate seatring 13a performs the downstream ball suspension and loading functions.In the single upstream seated valve shown in FIG. 10, the DVC functionsas an access port cover and flow turning element. In the butterflyvalves shown in FIGS. 6 and 9, the DVC neither suspends the ball norloads the disc to the seat. It does, however, provide a fixedcircumferential mating surface for the disc member to seal against.

Operation and Description of Valve Member Embodiments

The repair operation/method of all AERo valve embodiments is unlike anyother rotary valve type. It has all the best features of a top entry anda split body/side entry valve. The repair of the AERo valve, with theexception of being done on an angled axis relative to the pipe, is thesame as repairs to a split body valve or side entry valve. In thetypical embodiment, the DVC is removed through access port 50, and allof the valve parts that need to come out for service can be retrievedthrough this location. After necessary repair work is complete the DVCis inserted back into the AERo valve body chamber through the AERo valveaccess port 50 and positioned to stem shaft connections (70 in slottedball styles), and aligned so that the DVC flow discharge port 49 linesup with the valve body flow passage along axis 31 for straight pipevalves and 39 for turning pipe valves.

Prior to DVC installation the lower DVC seal ring 16 is carefully placedaround the DVC at 42 and the upper seal 18 is placed on the body matingsurface 52. (In the threaded and pressure seal DVC embodiments the upperDVC seal can be installed after the DVC is placed into the valve). Thenthe DVC is placed into the valve body and fastened in its stationaryposition in body cylinders 23 and 24. Drilled and tapped holes oppositeeach other 54 on the flanged DVC 51 and on top center 61 on the screwedand pressure sealed DVC, serve as anchor points for (eye)bolts or studsto which a lifting sling is attached for DVC handling during removal,repair and reinstallation.

The use of ball valves and butterfly valves to control or isolate theflow of fluids is very well known in the art. Valves are selected basedon their flow characterization, flow capacity, degree of shut-offcapability, body pressure rating and user acceptance of the differentdesigns available. Valves built using the "straight pipe" AERo bodydesign will, given equal inside flow diameters as valves built with asplit body, side entry or top entry, (hereinafter referred to asconventional (rotary) valves) have a reduced flow capacity. This is dueto the frictional loss associated with the plurality of flow passagewaysin the AERo valves compared to only one passageway in conventionalvalves. In some service applications this comparable flow reduction maynot be of consequence since a flow reduction is often desired. In othersit will necessitate an enlargement of the AERo valve internal flowpassages to achieve large flow coefficients. AERo valves built using the"turning pipe" embodiment shown in FIG. 9 will not reduce line flowrates any more than would a pipe elbow of equal length, radius andinternal diameter.

Unlike conventional valves, "straight flow pipe" AERo valve stem 17,yoke 32 and operator base plate (topworks) will be on an angled planerelative to the pipeline, rather than on a parallel plane with the pipe.The "turned flow pipe" AERo valve will, however, have the same topworksorientation as do the conventional valves. In horizontal pipeinstallations the angled operator will have minimum effect on the easeof opening or closing a valve regardless of the valves flow direction,especially if the valve is equipped with a bevel or worm gear operatorwith the face of the handwheel facing the person turning the valve tothe desired position, as shown in FIG. 7. In vertical pipeinstallations, with the flow up, the non gear opgrated valve willoperate very much like a direct wheel or T-handle operated Y type globevalve in a flow down service, i.e., with the handwheel face slantedtoward the ground. In vertical pipe installations with the flow down, asis most often the case on industrial and power boilers, particularly inwaterwall drain duty, the AERo valve will provide an easier angle ofoperation for the person as the handwheel will be facing slightlyupwards. Ergonomically, this is a preferred handwheel position for aperson as this position will allow a plant operator to utilize his orher entire body to manually cycle a valve, rather than just the upperbody, to more a valve member requiring high turning torque.

Rotary valves using the AERo valve body will consist of a full round andmodified sphere ball, a fractional ball (which has an outside surfacearea which, at its widest part, is approximately the dimension of theoutside diameter of the valve seat), V-ported ball or a butterfly valvedisc member. These members generally rotate 90 degrees to cycle from thefull open to the full closed position, and vise versa. Some valves,however, may cycle less than a full 90 degrees and others may cycle upto 180 degrees or more in their normal operation.

The floating AERo ball valve in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5 shows the typicalarrangement of valve components, i.e., a cylindrical body interior 23housing a belleville member loading spring 15, which communicatesdirectly with the planar upstream body wall 53 and the flat upstreamside of the upstream seat guide 14. The radiused opposite side of theupstream seat guide 14 along with the radiused downstream seat suspendthe ball 11 on center with the valve stem 35 axis 34. In the preferredembodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the downstream seat is not springloaded. The downstream seat may be a resilient PTFE type material or ahardfaced material insert, or, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and previouslywritten, it is a hardface material applied directly to the seat surfacebase metal, and therefore considered integral to the seat. Thebelleville spring 15 provides a preload to hold the ball against theseat under low operating pressure. After the line pressure against theupstream side of the closed ball has exceeded that which the spring hasapplied, the spring becomes inactive as a loading force and the valve issealed using the force of differential line pressure acting over theexposed surface on the upstream side of the ball member. Once past theseat in the floating ball the medium proceeds through the flow passage25 of the DVC where it is turned to communicate either directly with thepipeline (turned pipeline valve) or to another passageway which thenconnects with the pipeline.

FIGS. 6 and 9 show the typical butterfly AERo valve member embodiments.In FIG. 9 the flow medium moves into the first passageway 20 along theflow axis 22 communicates directly with the valve member 11 or as shownin FIG. 6, is turned to communicate with a second flow passageway whichis in the same axis as the valve member 11 and DVC 12. Unlike many ballvalves which require a spring preload, the butterfly valve simply relieson torque loading of the member against the seat. This loading torque isoften boosted in high pressure valves by offsetting the disc 11 on theshaft 17 to render a camming effect of the member 11 to the seat 13.Member and seat sealing configurations can vary depending upon theservice conditions and user history. Typically, rubber, polymer orgraphite-based resilient seat materials are used with the valve wherebythe valve member retains a resilient sealing material and the seat iseither the valve body material or a more durable metallic overlay. Forreasons explained below, the later closure seal arrangement is thepreferred AERo valve embodiment.

Like FIG. 1, the AERo butterfly valves shown in FIGS. 6 and 9, have DVCseats 11 which will be removed as part of the routine repair teardown.Unlike the floating ball design in FIG. 1, where the ball member can bepulled out of the valve (after the valve is cycled to the closedposition to line up the slot in the ball and stem shaft 70 with the flowpassage) immediately after the DVC is removed, the removal of thebutterfly valve member will require the disassembly of the trunnionshaft, unless the member 11 (not the seat as is often done withbutterfly valves) has a retained resilient closure seal 71.

Note that butterfly valves are inherently trunnion-mounted due to theneed to provide a means to fix the axis of rotation so that thecircumferential sealing surfaces of the valve member 11 and seat 13 willrepeatedly mate to perform the valves flow control and isolationfunctions. The disc member is shaft mounted (and pinned and/or keyed)with either a two piece shaft, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 9 or, a one piecethrough-the-member (disc) shaft.

With a retained member seal design the valve member and trunnion do nothave to be disturbed in the process of valve closure element repair.Once the DVC is removed through the AERo access port 50, the mechanicturns out the retaining bolts 71b (often recessed sockethead bolts)holding the member seal 71 in place. The member seal 71 is then eitherrefurbished or replaced with a new seal. The valve seat 13 is restoredoutside the valve body. Note that unbolting the valve from the line, andrebolting it back in after repair is, as with all AERo valves, notnecessary. If the trunnion is in need of inspection, bearing 55changeout or other repair it can be removed through the bottom accessport 56. Trunnion design and installation/removal method is well knownin the art.

Another embodiment of the AERo body valve is the trunnion-mounted ballvalves shown in FIGS. 7 and 10. With trunnion-mounted valves, the memberturns a bottom post 55, which largely service the purpose of bearing theweight of the valve member and of providing a means to fix the member inan axis which will enable the seats to move against it and seal. Unlikethe floating ball concept, the trunnion style ball valves rely onfloating seats. That is why the seat ring (holder) 69 in FIG. 11 has anoutside diameter seal 69b. As the ring moves in response to increased ordecreased line pressure the OD seal ring 69b maintains the tightshut-off of the valve. Some trunnion-mounted designs allow minutemovement in the post section, so that the valve may have the advantagesof weight bearing while still having some float. The valve in FIG. 7reflects this style. Since, like a floating ball, the ball member isactually moving, there is no need to seal the OD of the seat rings,which may otherwise move. Hence there are not OD seals in the seat ringsof this style valve.

The trunnion's load bearing function spares the seat and upstream guidefrom carrying the member and therefore substantially reduces the amountof torque required to operate the vale. Reduced torque results insmoother valve operation and smaller manual gear, pneumatic, electric orhydraulic operators 33. On very large size valves in high pressureservice trunnion mounting can reduce valve operator cost and result inan overall lower valve manufacturing cost.

FIG. 7 shows a double seated trunnion-mounted member and FIG. 10 shows asingle upstream-seated trunnion-mounted member. Valves of either memberembodiment can be metal seated or resilient seated, again depending uponthe service conditions. Additionally, it is common to use bellevillestyle springs between the planar body walls 53 and the seat rings aspreload mechanisms to allow this type of rotary valve to achieve tightshut-off even at very low operating pressures. Trunnion-mounted memberembodiments are well known in the art, and as with all memberembodiments, the AERo valves are an enhancement of the maintainabilityof conventional valves. The closure seal repair method fortrunnion-mounted ball valves will, unlike all other member embodiments,require the additional step of disengaging the trunnion-to-ball mountingconnection. This is done by removal of the trunnion cover plate 56 andpulling the trunnion away from the ball member 11. Once the trunnion isdisengaged, the stem slotted ball will be freed-up to be pulled out ofthe valve body through the AERo valve access port 50.

Finally, with regard to valve member embodiments, FIG. 8 shows a doubleseated floating seat ball valve. As with other AERo embodiments thismember embodiment is well known in the art. The valve member, which isoften a stainless steel, with a chrome polish or hardcoaring such astungsten carbide, is disposed between an upstream and a downstream seatring. The seat rings can be made of a variety of metals, many known fortheir corrosion resistance, graphite, PTFE or graphite impregnated PTFE.Material selection for valve construction varies greatly. It is not theintention of the AERo valve designs to offer any new valve body or valvetrim metallurgy, or seal material, or combination of materials. Mentionof materials is made to provide general information as to materialscommonly used, and, to further the readers understanding of the art inwhich the AERo valve is involved.

Referring to FIG. 8, the seat rings 13c are urged into the grooves inthe interior body planar walls 53 (or without grooves) and against theball by the compression force applied when the DVC 12 is installed (in afashion similar to an end cap on a split body valve) to the valve. Theassembly compression of the DVC acts as a sealing load force, which,under low line operating pressures seals the valve member to the seatcommunicating with the line pressure. In some designs, assemblycompression load can be overcome by line pressure. When this happens thevalve member is forced in the direction of flow and against what is thedownstream seat relative to the pressure source. The downstream seat,therefore, becomes the shut-off point as the medium loads the upstreamface of the closed ball member, and often penetrates past the upstreamseat to fill the valve body cavity with the pressurized medium.

One skilled in the art will recognize that the location of the ball sloton the ball, the location of the actuator and access port may all bevaried in the practice of the present invention. Before describing howthe location of features varies, it is important to understandterminology relating one valve part to another relative to theorientation of the valve as it is installed in the pipe. Since a valvecan theoretically be installed in an infinite number of spatialpositions in a pipe, relative locations of valve parts and features canbecome confusing. For example, a catalog picture of a gate type valvegenerally shows the valve with its stem in the vertical position.However, if the valve was installed in a vertical pipe the stem is nowhorizontal. It becomes important to distinguish a starting referencepoint especially when describing new design approaches.

Therefore, the standard point of reference utilized in this patentdescription shall be the vertical centerline plane (VCP) that runsthrough a horizontal pipe to which the valve being described isattached. This relative feature orientation is used for clarificationpurposes only and does not limit the location and position of the AERovalve's application. This reference point usage will become more readilyunderstood as various additional embodiments are described.

To further understand the nature of these additional embodiments of theAERo valve we shall refer to FIG. 11 which shows the first preferred"flow turning embodiment" utilizing a floating ball type AERo valve inthe straight pipeline embodiment, whereby the generally cylindrical orconical flow passageway 87 along the VCP turns approximately 45 degreestoward the first turning member flow passageway 74 within the flowturning valve member 72. Flow in passageway 74 turns approximately 90degrees and perpendicular to the VCP. The spherical surface on thedownstream outside of the flow turning valve member 72 achieves a 360degree contact with the annular seat 13 to affect a closure of thevalve.

The flow turning valve member 72 is suspended between the downstreamseat 13 and the guide 76 within the first generally cylindrical bodychamber 86. The guide 76 is positioned by the circumferential groove 84in the bonnet 73. The bonnet 73 is attached to the body 10 by any of themeans described hereinabove such as a threaded plug, a bolted flange andby means of the compression plate shown in FIGS. 11, 18 and 19. Thedrawings 12-14 and 16 and 17 show a bonnet seal (gasket or ring) 83 forpressure containment between the body 10 and the bonnet 73.

Any of the various spring configurations such as the belleville springs15 used in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5 can be utilized to load the guide 76 in thesame fashion as in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, and the seat 13. Springscommunicate with the seat 13, which seat in the preferred embodiment isremovable, and the valve body 10, within the generally circumferentialseat groove 85. Seat springs are often used with seal to body seals ontrunnion-mounted valves which require the seat to body seal to move toseal the valve member which is generally fixed on the shaft axis and notable to move in response to pipe pressures as a floating ball membercan. While this first preferred flow turning embodiment is not trunnionmounted, trunnion mounted types of body seat sealing, known widely inthe art, can be used especially when bidirectional flow shut-off is arequirement of the piping arrangement.

The valve shown in FIG. 12 is the valve in FIG. 11, but in the openposition. In this drawing the second flow turning member flow passageway75 in the flow turning valve member 72 is positioned by means of therotation of the valve stem 17, which generally shares the same axis asthe first turning member flow passageway 74, and is inserted into themember slot 70 to be centered on the VCP. This position permits thefluid communication which the second generally cylindrical bodypassageway 88 which turns the flow to communicate with the pipeconnection.

FIGS. 13 and 14 show the first preferred flow turning embodiment in theelbow valve body embodiment. In FIG. 13 the primary flow direction ofthis floating ball design is from below the valve. This would providefor the best shut-off seal if the flow was moving up a vertical pipe toa connecting horizontal pipe. In FIG. 14 the primary flow direction isfrom a horizontal pipe to the vertical pipe. Note that the position ofthe actuator 33 and stem 17 changes when the seal 13 is situated on thedownstream side of the primary flow direction. This permits the ballmember 72 to move in the direction of flow to provide optimum matingseal with the seat 13. Note that these are the same valves that arepositioned to have the seat downstream.

The second preferred flow turning embodiments are shown in FIGS. 15-17.Referring to FIGS. 15 and 16, this flow turning embodiment differs fromthe first preferred embodiments described above in the way the flowpassageway turns away from the VCP when the valve actuator stem 17 iscentered on a plane parallel to the VCP. This turning away from the VCPcauses the valve internal access port 50 to be centered on a differentvertical plane from (the VCP) actuator stem 17. In previous AERo valveflow turning embodiments, the flow actuator stem and access port arealong the same plane, regardless of valve installation position. FIG. 17shows what happens when the valve's flow passageway centerline (87, 74,75, 88) is the same as the VCP in this second preferred flow turningembodiment. The actuator stem 17 becomes perpendicular to the VCP. Avalve of this type would appear to be mounted on its side in ahorizontal pipe because the stem is also horizontal (perpendicular tothe VCP).

The second flow turning embodiments can be a floating ball or a full orpartial trunnion-mounted ball. It can be utilized in the straight pipeor elbow pipe body embodiment. When used in the latter body embodiment,positioning of the body so that the seal is downstream is the preferredinstallation. In floating ball embodiments, trunnion-mounted memberembodiments generally have the flow past the seat to the member flowpassageway. This is body orientation shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 in thefirst preferred flow turning embodiment.

To further understand the second preferred valve flow turning embodimentwe shall refer to FIG. 17 which shows a generally cylindrical passageway87 which turns the flow from the axis of the pipe to the first turningmember flow passageway 74 in the member 72 with the valve in the fullopen position, housed within the valve body chamber 86. Next, the flowturns at the intersection of the first running member flow passageway 74and the second turning member flow passageway 75 and proceeds from thelatter passageway 75 past the seat 13 to the second fluid passageway 88which turns the flow to the connecting pipe.

The location of user interfaces, i.e. the actuator 33 and the internalaccess port 50 on the second preferred flow turning embodiments canvary. FIGS. 15 and 16 show the same valve configuration whereas FIG. 17shows a different configuration. FIGS. 16 and 17 look the same with theexception of the valve member positions. The difference in drawing"view" indicates that the location of the user interfaces on these twovalves are clearly different. To further understand the positioning ofthe user interfaces a standard point of reference is hereby establishedas follows: the specified interface is located on the valve relative tothe primary direction of flow. If an interface is on the right hand sideof the valve looking in the direction of flow it is considered a righthand feature. Now looking at drawings 15 and 16 we learn that theinterface selected for "handing" is the access port 50, and that thevalve is therefore "right hand ported". Looking at FIG. 17 we see thatthe interface selected for "handing" is the actuator and we see that thevalve is "right hand actuated". Note that the choice of one interfacethen determines the location of the second interface and that a planarperpendicularity exists between the two interfaces. As another exampleto further demonstrate this point, a valve of this embodiment which isleft hand actuated means that the port is on top (or bottom) of thevalve.

The assembly and maintenance procedure for the flow turning embodimentsare modified from the earlier embodiments described above in that theseat 13 is not on the DVC but rather, in the body housing 86. The seat13 inserted into the body groove 85, rather than weld overlaid or metalsprayed (integral to body) is the preferred embodiments of the flowturning. Like the downstream seat 13 above, (which is part of the DVC,which is removable), the preference for a removable seat is in keepingwith the simplified maintenance procedures which is a key part of theAERo valve designs.

In addition to the flow turning embodiments, an additional means ofretaining pressure and compressing internal parts at the valve internalaccess port 50 is shown in FIGS. 11, 18 and 19.

FIG. 11 shows a typical flow turning embodiment of the AERo valve with acompression plate means of pressure containment and internal partspositioning. This design can be used with the embodiments previouslydescribed, and with the flow turning embodiments of FIGS. 11-17. Thiswould be done by substituting the outboard surface of the DVC 12 for thesame surface on the bonnet 73.

The purpose of this embodiment, like the pressure seal design of FIG. 5,is to effect a positive seal of the body opening while reducing theoverall size of this part of the valve.

Referring to FIG. 11, after the bonnet 73 is installed through theinternal access port 50 and against the member 72 the compression plate77 is placed into the body 10 by inserting it into the body chamber 86through the body slot 81. Once the plate 77 is in the body chamber 86the compression screws 79 are threaded into the threaded compressionplate holes 78 until they contact the bonnet 73. Compression screws 79may be of any number of designs, i.e. hex head bolts, socket head boltsas shown in FIG. 11, standard studs using a double nut arrangement topush the stud end communicating with the bonnet 73 or a special stud andnut where the studs have wrench flats on their compression plate endalong with a nut 80 that is used to lock the stud into position afterthe bonnet 73 has been fully compressed to sealably mate with the body10.

Turning down the compression screws 79 forces the compression plate 77against the compression shoulder 82. The compression shoulder 82 acts tostop the movement of the plate and then to transfer the screw loadingforces against the bonnet 73 or the DVC 12. In the preferred embodiment,the bonnet 73 and DVC 12 have a compression stop shoulder 89 whichestablishes the correct position of the bonnet to properly position thevalve member, guides and properly compress internal seals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the reader will see that the Angle Entry Rotary valve ofthis invention will retain the inherent advantages of side entry valveassembly, and, make inline valve repair possible. In ball valves thismeans that not only will be AERo valve be repairable in the pipeline,but, it can also be assembled with the valve seats and members beinginstalled in the direction of compression, rather than from the top downas occurs in top entry ball valves. This will make assembly easier andall but eliminate the risk of damaging new parts when putting a valveback together.

Butterfly valves can now be fixed without disturbing connecting pipes.

Furthermore, the AERo valve has the additional advantages in that:

during the course of routine repairs, the valve seat(s) is removed. Thisis extraordinary when considered in light of the fact that with linearoperating valves like gate and globe valves, the seat removal is veryrarely done, and if it is, substantial extra direct and indirect(downtime of plant equipment) costs are added to the job. Also, a wornout gate or globe valve seat often signals that the valve is scrap. Thisis not so with the AERo valve where the valve body could potentially,outlive several seat replacements.

in the time it takes to unbolt and remove a valve out of the pipeline,it can be completely rebuilt, simply by changing out the complete setvalve internals with a spare set. This means that a plant can get backinto production within hours, rather than shifts, days or weeks.

worker exposure to potentially hazardous conditions is reduceddramatically as repair time is greatly minimized. This is very importantfor chemical and nuclear power plants.

extensive valve seat restoration can take place since it is removedduring routine repairs, and, the seat, due to the DVC's concentricdesign, can be easily machined in an engine lathe.

flanged valve pipe connections can be reduced in favor of weldedconnections. This would result in less flange leakage, thereby savingproduct that would be lost to the atmosphere, and maintenance costassociated with routine flange maintenance and emergency repairs.

valve flange leaks are a source of environmental contamination. Use ofthe AERo valve design and welding valve connections would enhance UnitedStates of America's Clean Air Act compliance, especially in the refiningand chemical processing industries,where volatile organic compounds(VOCs) are a major concern.

Although the description above contains many details, these should notbe construed as limiting the scope of this invention, and, should beconsidered as illustrative of the presently preferred embodiments ofthis invention. For example, the AERo valve body exterior can simply bea square or rectangular shape, etc., with some of the various flowpassageways on a plane other than one radiating from the centerline ofthe pipe centerline (offset), etc.

Therefore, the scope of this invention should be determined by theattached claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examplesgiven.

We claim:
 1. A valve with a rotating member for use in controlling fluidflow in a pipeline having a fluid path from an upstream pipeline segmentto a downstream pipeline segment, wherein said upstream pipeline segmentand said downstream pipeline segment have flow axes which are notcommon, wherein said valve comprises:an inlet flow passageway in fluidcommunication with said upstream pipeline segment, and wherein saidinlet flow passageway has a flow axis generally coextensive with theflow axis of the upstream pipeline segment; an outlet flow passageway influid communication with said downstream pipeline segment, and whereinsaid outlet flow passageway has a flow axis generally coextensive withthe flow axis of the downstream pipeline segment; a valve bodyintermediate said inlet flow passageway and said outlet flow passageway,said valve body comprising;a chamber having an axis generallycoextensive with said inlet flow passageway, and providing a housing fora rotating valve member and a removable valve body chamber componentdisposed therein; a rotating valve member capable of fluid flow control;a valve maintenance access port positioned at one end of said chamber,downstream of said rotating valve member and siad outlet flowpassageway; and said removable valve body chamber component intermediatesaid valve member and said valve maintenance access port for sealinglyengaging one end of said rotating valve member and the other endsealingly engaging a surface of said chamber adjacent said access portwhen fully inserted within said valve body chamber through saidmaintenance access port, comprising:an inlet portion flow passagewayhaving a flow axis generally coextensive with the flow axis of saidupstream pipeline segment; and an outlet portion flow passageway havinga flow axis generally coextensive with the flow axis of said downstreampipeline segment; and wherein maintenance of said rotating valve memberand said removable valve body chamber component can be effected by wayof said maintenance access port.
 2. The valve of claim 1 wherein saidvalve body further comprises a downstream valve seat and a means toapply assembly compression.
 3. The valve of claim 1 wherein saidremovable valve body chamber component further comprises a downstreamvalve seat, a behind-the-seat seal, and means to apply assemblycompression.
 4. The valve of claim 1 wherein said valve body furthercomprises a downstream valve seat and a behind-the-seat seal for abutterfly valve.
 5. The valve of claim 1 wherein said removable valvebody chamber component further comprises a downstream valve seat and abehind-the seat seal for a butterfly valve.
 6. The valve of claim 1wherein the valve member is selected from the group comprising floatingball valves, trunnion-mounted ball valves with an upstream mounted seat,trunnion-mounted valves with a downstream seat, trunnion-mounted valveswith upstream and downstream mounted seats, and butterfly valves.
 7. Thevalve of claim 1 wherein a threaded, flanged, pressure sealed, orclamped means is employed to retain said valve maintenance access port.8. The valve of claim 1 further comprising additional flow controlelements.
 9. the valve of claim 1 wherein said removable valve bodychamber component is sealably mated to said maintenance access port, andacts as a pressure boundary cover.
 10. The valve of claim 9 wherein saidvalve body further comprises a downstream valve seat and a means toapply assembly compression.
 11. The valve of claim 9 wherein saidremovable valve body chamber component further comprises a downstreamvalve seat, a behind-the-seat seal, and means to apply assemblycompression.
 12. The valve of claim 9 wherein said valve body furthercomprises a downstream valve seat and a behind-the-seat seal for abutterfly valve.
 13. The valve of claim 9 wherein said removable valvebody chamber component further comprises a downstream valve seat and abehind-the-seat seal for a butterfly valve.
 14. The valve of claim 9wherein the valve member is selected from the group comprising floatingball valves, trunnion-mounted ball valves with an upstream mounted seat,trunnion-mounted valves with a downstream seat, trunnion-mounted valveswith upstream and downstream mounted seats, and butterfly valves. 15.The valve of claim 9 wherein a threaded, flanged, pressure sealed, orclamped means is employed to retain said valve maintenance access port.16. The valve of claim 9 further comprising additional flow controlelements.
 17. A valve with a rotating member for use in controllingfluid flow in a pipeline having a fluid flow path from an upstreampipeline segment to a downstream pipeline segment, wherein said upstreampipeline segment and said downstream pipeline segment have a common flowaxis displaced by said valve, and wherein said valve comprises:a inletflow passageway in fluid communication with said upstream pipelinesegment, and wherein said inlet flow passageway comprises:an initialportion having a flow axis generally coextensive with the common flowaxes of said upstream and downstream pipeline segments; and a finalportion having a flow axis which forms an obtuse angle with thedirection of fluid flow from the upstream pipeline segment to thedownstream pipeline segment along the common flow axes of said upstreamand downstream pipeline segments;an outlet flow passageway in fluidcommunication with said downstream pipeline segment, and wherein saidoutlet flow passageway comprises: an initial portion having a flow axiswhich forms an acute angle with the direction of fluid flow from theupstream pipeline segment to the downstream pipeline segment along thecommon flow axes of said upstream and downstream pipeline segments; anda final portion having a flow axis generally coextensive with the flowaxes of said upstream and downstream pipeline segments; anda valve bodyintermediate said inlet flow passageway and said outlet flow passageway,said valve body comprising: a chamber having an axis generallycoextensive with said final portion of said inlet flow passageway, andproviding a housing for a rotating valve member and a removable valvebody chamber component disposed therein; a rotating valve member capableof fluid flow control; a valve maintenance access port positioned at oneend of said chamber, downstream of said rotating valve member and saidoutlet flow passageway; and said removable valve body chamber componentintermediate said rotating valve member and said valve maintenanceaccess port for sealingly engaging one end of said rotating valve memberand the other end sealingly engaging a surface of said chamber adjacentsaid access port when fully inserted within said valve body chamberthrough said maintenance access port, comprising;an inlet portion flowpassageway having a flow axis generally coextensive with the flow axisof said final portion of said inlet flow passageway; and an outletportion flow passageway having a flow axis generally coextensive withthe flow axis of said initial portion of said outlet flow passageway;andwherein maintenance of said rotating valve member and said removablevalve body chamber component can be effected by way of said maintenanceaccess port.
 18. The valve of claim 17 wherein said valve body furthercomprises a downstream valve seat and a means to apply assemblycompression.
 19. The valve of claim 17 wherein said removable valve bodychamber component further comprises a downstream valve seat, abehind-the-seat seal, and means to apply assembly compression.
 20. Thevalve of claim 17 wherein said valve body further comprises a downstreamvalve seat and a behind-the-seat seal for a butterfly valve.
 21. Thevalve of claim 17 wherein said removable valve body chamber componentfurther comprises a downstream valve seat and a behind-the-seat seal fora butterfly valve.
 22. The valve of claim 17 wherein the valve member isselected from the group comprising floating ball valves,trunnion-mounted ball valves with an upstream mounted seat,trunnion-mounted valves with a downstream seat, trunnion-mounted valveswith upstream and downstream mounted seats, and butterfly valves. 23.The valve of claim 17 wherein a threaded, flanged, pressure sealed, orclamped means is employed to retain said valve maintenance access port.24. The valve of claim 17 further comprising additional flow controlelements.
 25. The valve of claim 17 wherein said removable valve bodychamber component is sealably mated to said maintenance access port, andacts as a pressure boundary cover.
 26. The valve of claim 25 whereinsaid valve body further comprises a downstream valve seat and a means toapply assembly compression.
 27. The valve of claim 25 wherein saidremovable valve body chamber component further comprises a downstreamvalve seat, a behind-the-seat seal, and means to apply assemblycompression.
 28. The valve of claim 25 wherein said valve body furthercomprises a downstream valve seat and a behind-the-seat seal for abutterfly valve.
 29. The valve of claim 25 wherein said removable valvebody chamber component further comprises a downstream valve seat and abehind-the-seat seal for a butterfly valve.
 30. The valve of claim 25wherein the valve member is selected from a group comprising floatingball valves, trunnion-mounted ball valves with an upstream mounted seat,trunnion-mounted valves with a downstream seat, trunnion-mounted valveswith upstream and downstream mounted seats, and butterfly valves. 31.The valve of claim 25 wherein a threaded, flanged, pressure sealed, orclamped means is employed to retain said valve maintenance access port.32. The valve of claim 25 further comprising additional flow controlelements.
 33. A method of repairing a valve with a rotating member foruse in controlling fluid flow in a pipeline having a fluid path from anupstream pipeline segment to a downstream pipeline segment, wherein saidupstream pipeline segment and said downstream pipeline segment have flowaxes which are not common, and wherein said valve comprises:an inletflow passageway in fluid communication with said upstream pipelinesegment, and wherein said inlet flow passageway has a flow axisgenerally coextensive with the flow axis of the upstream pipelinesegment; an outlet flow passageway in fluid communication with saiddownstream pipeline segment, and wherein said outlet flow passageway hasa flow axis generally coextensive with the flow axis of the downstreampipeline segment; a valve body intermediate said inlet flow passagewayand said outlet flow passageway, said valve body comprising:a chamberhaving an axis generally coextensive with said inlet flow passageway,and providing a housing for a rotating valve member and a removablevalve body chamber component disposed therein; a rotating valve membercapable of fluid flow control; a valve maintenance access portpositioned at one end of said chamber, downstream of said rotating valvemember and said outlet flow passageway; and said removable valve bodychamber component intermediate said valve member and said valvemaintenance access port for sealingly engaging one end of said rotatingvalve member and the other end sealingly engaging a surface of saidchamber adjacent said access port when fully inserted within said valvebody chamber through said maintenance access port, comprising:an inletportion flow passageway having a flow axis generally coextensive withthe flow axis of said upstream pipeline segment; and an outlet portionflow passageway having a flow axis generally coextensive with the flowaxis of said downstream pipeline segment; and wherein maintenance ofsaid rotating valve member and said removable valve body chambercomponent can be effected by way of said maintenance access port,whichmethod comprises: a. opening of said valve maintenance access port; b.removal of said removable valve body chamber component; c. inspection ofsaid rotating valve member and said removable valve body chambercomponent; d. repair or replacement of said rotating valve member andsaid removable valve body chamber component, as necessary; e.realignment of said rotating valve member and replacement of a removableflow passageway component; and f. closing of said valve maintenanceaccess port.
 34. A method of repairing a valve with a rotating memberfor use in controlling fluid flow in a pipeline having a fluid flow pathfrom an upstream pipeline segment to a downstream pipeline segment,wherein said upstream pipeline segment and said downstream pipelinesegment have a common flow axis displaced by said valve, and whereinsaid valve comprises:a inlet flow passageway in fluid communication withsaid upstream pipeline segment, and wherein said inlet flow passagewaycomprises:an initial portion having a flow axis generally coextensivewith the common flow axes of said upstream and downstream pipelinesegments; and a final portion having a flow axis which forms an obtuseangle with the direction of fluid flow from the upstream pipelinesegment to the downstream pipeline segment along the common flow axes ofsaid upstream and downstream pipeline segments; an outlet flowpassageway in fluid communication with said downstream pipeline segment,and wherein said outlet flow passageway comprises:an initial portionhaving a flow axis which forms an acute angle with the direction offluid flow from the upstream pipeline segment to the downstream pipelinesegment along the common flow axes of said upstream and downstreampipeline segments; and a final portion having a flow axis generallycoextensive with the flow axes of said upstream and downstream pipelinesegments; and a valve body intermediate said inlet flow passageway andsaid outlet flow passageway, said valve body comprising:a chamber havingan axis generally coextensive with said final portion of said inlet flowpassageway, and providing a housing for a rotating valve member and aremovable valve body chamber component disposed therein; a rotatingvalve member capable of fluid flow control; a valve maintenance accessport positioned at one end of said chamber, downstream of said rotatingvalve member; and said removable valve body chamber componentintermediate said rotating valve member and said valve maintenanceaccess port for sealingly engaging one end of said rotating valve memberand the other end sealingly engaging a surface of said chamber adjacentsaid access port when fully inserted within said valve body chamberthrough said maintenance access port, comprising:an inlet portion flowpassageway having a flow axis generally coextensive with the flow axisof said final portion of said inlet flow passageway; and an outletportion flow passageway having a flow axis generally coextensive withthe flow axis of said initial portion of said outlet flow passageway;and wherein maintenance of said rotating valve member and said removablevalve body chamber component can be effected by way of said maintenanceaccess port, which method comprises:a. opening of said valve maintenanceaccess port; b. removal of said removable valve body chamber component;c. inspection of said rotating valve member and said removable valvebody chamber component; d. repair or replacement of said rotating valvemember and said removable valve body chamber component, as necessary; e.realignment of said rotating valve member and replacement of a removableflow passageway component; and f. closing of said valve maintenanceaccess port.
 35. A removable valve body chamber component for use in avalve with a rotating member for use in controlling fluid flow in apipeline having a fluid path from an upstream pipeline segment to adownstream pipeline segment, wherein said upstream pipeline segment andsaid downstream pipeline segment have flow axes which are not common,and wherein said valve comprises:an inlet flow passageway in fluidcommunication with said upstream pipeline segment, and wherein saidinlet flow passageway has a flow axis generally coextensive with theflow axis of the upstream pipeline segment; an outlet flow passageway influid communication with said downstream pipeline segment, and whereinsaid outlet flow passageway has a flow axis generally coextensive withthe flow axis of the downstream pipeline segment;a valve bodyintermediate said inlet flow passageway and said outlet flow passageway,said valve body comprising: a chamber having an axis generallycoextensive with said inlet flow passageway, and providing a housing fora rotating valve member and a removable valve body chamber componentdisposed therein; a rotating valve member capable of fluid flow control;A valve maintenance access port positioned at one end of said chamber,downstream of said rotating valve member and said outlet flowpassageway;and wherein said removable valve body chamber component isadapted to be positioned intermediate said rotating valve member andsaid valve maintenance access port and further wherein one end of saidremovable valve body chamber component is adapted for sealingly engagingsaid rotating valve member and the other end is adapted for sealinglyengaging a surface of said chamber adjacent said access port when fullyinserted within said valve body chamber through said maintenance accessport, said removable valve body chamber component further comprising: aninlet portion flow passageway having a flow axis generally coextensivewith the flow axis of said upstream pipeline segment; and an outletportion flow passageway having a flow axis generally coextensive withthe flow axis of said downstream pipeline segment;and whereinmaintenance of said rotating valve member and said removable valve bodychamber component can be effected by way of said maintenance accessport.
 36. A removable valve body chamber component for use in a valvewith a rotating member for use in controlling fluid flow in a pipelinehaving a fluid flow path from an upstream pipeline segment to adownstream pipeline segment, wherein said upstream pipeline segment andsaid downstream pipeline segment have a common flow axis displaced bysaid valve, and wherein said valve comprises:an inlet flow passageway influid communication with said upstream pipeline segment, and whereinsaid inlet flow passageway comprises:an initial portion having a flowaxis generally coextensive with the common flow axes of said upstreamand downstream pipeline segments; and a final portion having a flow axiswhich forms an obtuse angle with the direction of fluid flow from theupstream pipeline segment to the downstream pipeline segment along thecommon flow axes of said upstream and downstream pipeline segments; anoutlet flow passageway in fluid communication with said downstreampipeline segment, and wherein said outlet flow passageway comprises:aninitial portion having a flow axis which forms an acute angle with thedirection of fluid flow from the upstream pipeline segment to thedownstream pipeline segment along the common flow axes of said upstreamand downstream pipeline segments; and a final portion having a flow axisgenerally coextensive with the flow axes of said upstream and downstreampipeline segments; and a valve body intermediate said inlet flowpassageway and said outlet flow passageway, said valve body comprising:achamber having an axis generally coextensive with said final portion ofsaid inlet flow passageway, and providing a housing for a rotating valvemember and a removable valve body chamber component disposed therein; arotating valve member capable of fluid flow control; A valve maintenanceaccess port positioned at one end of said chamber, downstream of saidrotating valve member and said outlet flow passageway; and wherein saidremovable valve body chamber component is adapted to be positionedintermediate said rotating valve member and said valve maintenanceaccess port and further wherein one end of said removable valve bodychamber component is adapted for sealingly engaging said rotating valvemember and the other end is adapted for sealingly engaging a surface ofsaid chamber adjacent said access port when fully inserted within saidvalve body chamber through said maintenance access port, said removablevalve body chamber component further comprising:an inlet portion flowpassageway having a flow axis generally coextensive with the flow axisof said final portion of said inlet flow passageway; and an outletportion flow passageway having a flow axis generally coextensive withthe flow axis of said initial portion of said outlet flow passageway;and wherein maintenance of said rotating valve member and said removablevalve body chamber component can be effected by way of said maintenanceaccess port.
 37. A valve with a rotating member for use in controllingfluid flow in a pipeline having a fluid path from an upstream pipelinesegment to a downstream pipeline segment, wherein said upstream pipelinesegment and said downstream pipeline segment have flow axes which arenot common, wherein said valve comprises:an inlet flow passageway influid communication with said upstream pipeline segment, and whereinsaid inlet flow passageway has a flow axis generally coextensive withthe flow axis of the upstream pipeline segment; an outlet flowpassageway in fluid communication with said downstream pipeline segment,and wherein said outlet flow passageway has a flow axis generallycoextensive with the flow axis of the downstream pipeline segment; avalve body intermediate said inlet flow passageway and said outlet flowpassageway, said valve body comprising:a chamber providing a housing fora rotating valve member dispersed therein; a valve maintenance accessport in said valve body at a position removed from said inlet flowpassageway and said outlet flow passageway; and said rotating valvemember capable of fluid flow control intermediate said inlet flowpassageway and said outlet flow passageway and provided with means forsealingly engaging said outlet flow passageway and comprising:an inletportion flow passageway having a first position in which its flow axisis generally coextensive with the flow axis of said upstream pipelinesegment; and an outlet portion flow passageway having a first positionin which its flow axis is generally coextensive with the flow axis ofsaid downstream pipeline segment and which outlet portion flowpassageway communicates with said inlet portion flow passageway; andmeans for rotating said rotating valve member between a first positionin which said inlet portion flow passageway communicates with said inletflow passageway and said outlet portion flow passageway communicateswith said outlet flow passageway, and a second position in which atleast one of said inlet portion flow passageway and said outlet portionflow passageway is not in communication with said inlet flow passagewayor said outlet flow passageway, respectively; and wherein maintenance ofsaid rotating valve member can be effected by way of said maintenanceaccess port.
 38. The valve of claim 37 wherein the valve member isselected from the group comprising floating ball valves, and full andpartial (segmented) trunnion-mounted ball valves.
 39. The valve of claim37 wherein a threaded, flanged, pressure sealed, clamped or compressionplate means is employed to retain said valve maintenance access port.40. The valve of claim 37 further comprising additional flow controlelements.
 41. The valve of claim 37 wherein the centerline of saidaccess port and the centerline of said means for rotating said rotatingvalve member are generally co-planar.
 42. The valve of claim 37 whereinthe centerline of said access port and the centerline of said means forrotating said rotating valve member are generally perpendicular.
 43. Avalve with a rotating member for use in controlling fluid flow in apipeline having a fluid flow path from an upstream pipeline segment to adownstream pipeline segment, wherein said upstream pipeline segment andsaid downstream pipeline segment have a common flow axis displaced bysaid valve, and wherein said valve comprises:a inlet flow passageway influid communication with said upstream pipeline segment, and whereinsaid inlet flow passageway comprises:An initial portion having a flowaxis generally coextensive with the common flow axes of said upstreamand downstream pipeline segments; and A final portion having a flow axiswhich forms an obtuse angle with the direction of fluid flow from theupstream pipeline segment to the downstream pipeline segment along thecommon flow axes of said upstream and downstream pipeline segments;anoutlet flow passageway in fluid communication with said downstreampipeline segment, and wherein said outlet flow passageway comprises: aninitial portion having a flow axis which forms an acute angle with thedirection of fluid flow from the upstream pipeline segment to thedownstream pipeline segment along the common flow axes of said upstreamand downstream pipeline segments; and a final portion having a flow axisgenerally coextensive with the flow axes of said upstream and downstreampipeline segments; anda valve body intermediate said inlet flowpassageway and said outlet flow passageway, said valve body comprising:a chamber providing a housing for a rotating valve member disposedtherein; A valve maintenance access port in said valve body at aposition removed from said inlet flow passageway and said outlet flowpassageway; said rotating valve member capable of fluid flow controlintermediate said inlet flow passageway and said outlet flow passagewayand provided with means for sealingly engaging said inlet flowpassageway and means for sealingly engaging said maintenance access portwhen fully inserted within said chamber through said maintenance accessport, and comprising:an inlet portion flow passageway having a firstposition in which its flow axis is generally coextensive with the flowaxis of said final portion of said inlet flow passageway; and an outletportion flow passageway having a first position in which its flow axisis generally coextensive with the flow axis of said initial portion ofsaid outlet flow passageway; and means for rotating said rotating valvemember between a first position in which said inlet portion flowpassageway communicates with said inlet flow passageway and said outletportion flow passageway communicates with said outlet flow passageway,and a second position in which at least one of said inlet portion flowpassageway and said outlet portion flow passageway is not incommunication with said inlet flow passageway or said outlet flowpassageway, respectively;and wherein maintenance of said rotating valvemember can be effected by way of said maintenance access port.
 44. Thevalve of claim 43 wherein said valve body further comprises a downstreamvalve seat and a means to apply assembly compression.
 45. The valve ofclaim 43 wherein the valve member is selected from the group comprisingfloating ball valves, and full and partial (segmented) trunnion-mountedball valves.
 46. The valve of claim 43 wherein a threaded, flanged,pressure sealed, clamped or compression plate means is employed toretain said valve maintenance access port.
 47. The valve of claim 43further comprising additional flow control elements.
 48. The valve ofclaim 43 wherein the centerline of said access port and the centerlineof said means for rotating said rotating valve member are generallyco-planar.
 49. The valve of claim 43 wherein said means of rotation isnot on the same vertical plane as the vertical centerline plane of ahorizontal pipe in which a valve whose means of rotation is on topcenter of valve relative to the horizontal pipe.
 50. A method ofrepairing a valve with a rotating member for use in controlling fluidflow in a pipeline having a fluid path from an upstream pipeline segmentto a downstream pipeline segment, wherein said upstream pipeline segmentand said downstream pipeline segment have flow axes which are notcommon, and wherein said valve comprises:an inlet flow passageway influid communication with said upstream pipeline segment, and whereinsaid inlet flow passageway has a flow axis generally coextensive withthe flow axis of the upstream pipeline segment; an outlet flowpassageway in fluid communication with said downstream pipeline segment,and wherein said outlet flow passageway has a flow axis generallycoextensive with the flow axis of the downstream pipeline segment; avalve body intermediate said inlet flow passageway and said outlet flowpassageway, said valve body comprising:a chamber providing a housing fora rotating valve member disposed therein; a valve maintenance accessport in said valve body at a position removed from said inlet flowpassageway and said outlet flow passageway; and said rotating valvemember capable of fluid flow control intermediate said inlet flowpassageway and said outlet flow passageway and provided with means forsealingly engaging said outlet flow passageway and comprising:an inletportion flow passageway having a first position in which its flow axisis generally coextensive with the flow axis of said upstream pipelinesegment; and an outlet portion flow passageway having a first positionin which its flow axis is generally coextensive with the flow axis ofsaid downstream pipeline segment and which outlet portion flowpassageway communicates with said inlet portion flow passageway; and;means for rotating said rotating valve member between a first positionin which said inlet portion flow passageway communicates with said inletflow passageway and said outlet portion flow passageway communicateswith said outlet flow passageway, and a second position in which atleast one of said inlet portion flow passageway and said outlet portionflow passageway is not in communication with said inlet flow passagewayor said outlet flow passageway, respectively; and wherein maintenance ofsaid rotating valve member can be effected by way of said maintenanceaccess port, which method comprises:a. opening of said valve maintenanceaccess port; b. inspection of said rotating valve member; c. repair orreplacement of said rotating valve member as necessary; d. realignmentof said rotating valve member, as necessary; and e. closing of saidvalve maintenance access port.
 51. A method of repairing a valve with arotating member for use in controlling fluid flow in a pipeline having afluid flow path from an upstream pipeline segment to a downstreampipeline segment, wherein said upstream pipeline segment and saiddownstream pipeline segment have a common flow axis displaced by saidvalve, and wherein said valve comprises:a inlet flow passageway in fluidcommunication with said upstream pipeline segment, and wherein saidinlet flow passageway comprises:an initial portion having a flow axisgenerally coextensive with the common flow axes of said upstream anddownstream pipeline segments; and a final portion having a flow axiswhich forms an obtuse angle with the direction of fluid flow from theupstream pipeline segment to the downstream pipeline segment along thecommon flow axes of said upstream and downstream pipeline segments; anoutlet flow passageway in fluid communication with said downstreampipeline segment, and wherein said outlet flow passageway comprises:aninitial portion having a flow axis which forms an acute angle with thedirection of fluid flow from the upstream pipeline segment to thedownstream pipeline segment along the common flow axes of said upstreamand downstream pipeline segments; and a final portion having a flow axisgenerally coextensive with the flow axes of said upstream and downstreampipeline segments; and a valve body intermediate said inlet flowpassageway and said outlet flow passageway, said valve body comprising:achamber providing a housing for a rotating valve member disposedtherein; a valve maintenance access port in said valve body at aposition removed from said inlet flow passageway and said outlet flowpassageway; and said rotating valve member capable of fluid flow controlintermediate said inlet flow passageway and said outlet flow passagewayand provided with means for sealingly engaging said inlet flowpassageway and means for sealingly engaging said maintenance access portwhen fully inserted within said chamber through said maintenance accessport, and comprising:an inlet portion flow passageway having a firstposition in which its flow axis is generally coextensive with the flowaxis of said final portion of said inlet flow passageway; and an outletportion flow passageway having a first position in which its flow axisis generally coextensive with the flow axis of said initial portion ofsaid outlet flow passageway and which outlet portion flow passagewaycommunicates with said inlet portion flow passageway; and; means forrotating said rotating valve member between a first position in whichsaid inlet portion flow passageway communicates with said inlet flowpassageway and said outlet portion flow passageway communicates withsaid outlet flow passageway, and a second position in which at least oneof said inlet portion flow passageway and said outlet portion flowpassageway is not in communication with said inlet flow passageway orsaid outlet flow passageway, respectively; and wherein maintenance ofsaid rotating valve member can be effected by way of said maintenanceaccess port, which method comprises:a. opening of said valve maintenanceaccess port; b. inspection of said rotating valve member; c. repair orreplacement of said rotating valve member as necessary; d. realignmentof said rotating valve member, as necessary; and e. closing of saidvalve maintenance access port.
 52. A closure means for an internalaccess port of a valve, providing retaining pressure and compressinginternal components in a valve environment, which closure meanscomprises:(a) a valve body comprising:(i) an internal access port; (ii)a circumferential compression shoulder surrounding said internal accessport; (iii) a body slot in the form of a circumferential groove in theinner wall of said valve body inward of said compression shoulder, andwherein at least a portion of said groove comprises an opening throughthe side wall of said valve body inward of said compressive shoulder;(b) at least one internal component requiring compressive loading inuse, which may be accessed through said access port; (c) A bonnet ofsuitable dimension for placement within said valve body by means of saidaccess port, and for transmitting compressive forces against said atleast one internal component; (d) a compression plate having a dimensionintermediate between said access port and said body slot, and suitablefor positioning within said valve body through said body slot, saidcompression plate further provided with at least one threaded holetherethrough; and (e) at least one compression screw, suitable forengaging said at least one threaded hole through said compression plateand applying compressive force against said bonnet while sealing saidcompression plate against said compression shoulder of said valve body.53. A closure means for an internal access port of a valve, providingretaining pressure and compressing internal components in a valveenvironment, which closure means comprises:(a) a valve bodycomprising:(i) an internal access port; (ii) a circumferentialcompression shoulder surrounding said internal access port; (iii) a bodyslot in the form of a circumferential groove in the inner wall of saidvalve body inward of said compression shoulder, and wherein at least aportion of said groove comprises an opening through the side wall ofsaid valve body inward of said compressive shoulder; (b) at least oneinternal component requiring compressive loading in use, which may beaccessed through said access port; (c) A removable valve body chambercomponent of suitable dimension for placement within said valve body bymeans of said access port, and for transmitting compressive forcesagainst said at least one internal component; (d) a compression platehaving a dimension intermediate between said access port and said bodyslot, and suitable for positioning within said valve body through saidbody slot, said compression plate further provided with at least onethreaded hole therethrough; and (e) at least one compression screw,suitable for engaging said at least one threaded hole through saidcompression plate and applying compressive force against said removablevalve body chamber component while sealing said compression plateagainst said compression shoulder of said valve body.